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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

First Meet Carey Baldwin

FIRST
DO NO EVIL

Blood
Secrets, Book 1

Samhain
Publishing

ISBN:
978-1-60928-881-5

One killer is
in her blood.

The other is in her house.

There’s a
killer lurking in Dr. Skylar Novak’s family tree: the gene for breast cancer.
That's why her brilliant brother invented the Bella vaccine. But even if the
miracle drug protects her from the cancer that took her mother's life, it can't
save Sky from the flesh and bone evil stalking her in secret.

When the
killer strikes, detective Daniel Benson finds himself in the wrong place at the
right time. The bold detective manages to save Sky's life…just in time for her
to return the favor. Survival leads to seduction, and Danny risks
everything—his career, even his life, to keep Sky safe. But will the buried
sins they uncover cost him her heart?

Danny’s
strong arms may hold her close, but only Sky can stop the terror that's coming
next…

WARNING: Contents
include: One heart-melting hero—good luck getting this delicious detective out
of your head. One reluctant heroine—wielding a Glock was never on her to-do
list. One crazed villain—an entire flock of baa baa black sheep won't be enough
to put you to sleep. And a lifesaving vaccine with one deadly side effect—murder.

When you
are a former clinical psychologist, writing about psychopaths comes easily, and
when you are a hopeless romantic, well, you do the math! Carey has been a
finalist in numerous writing contests including Avon FanLit and the prestigious
Maggies. Her first manuscript won the Golden Gateway award for best single
title romance. FIRST DO NO EVIL is her debut romantic thriller.

FIRST QUESTIONS

ANGI: What’s the first book you remember reading?

CAREY: The first memories I have of reading involve my
mother. I have a vivid recollection of her sitting with one arm around me and
the other arm around my sister and allowing us to turn the pages while she read
aloud from a book of Grimm's fairy tales. The first memory I have of
independent reading involves HANS BRINKER AND THE SILVER SKATES, the light from
my electric blanket control, and a stern talking to when I got caught reading
after bedtime. But I was hooked, and I couldn't put that story down.

ANGI: What’s your favorite “love” word?

CAREY: Well, this is a tough choice, but I'm going to go
with "Truth". Not just telling the truth to your loved one, but
owning the truth about who you are and who they are. If you can't be truthful
about who you are, no one can love you and vice versa. I think truth is
essential for love.

ANGI: What’s your favorite cartoon character?

CAREY: Hands down that would be Tramp from LADY AND THE
TRAMP. I'd slurp spaghetti with that scoundrel any time!

ANGI: What do you like about the hero of your book?

CAREY: Well, let's start with the hawt part! Danny's a smooth
operator who doesn't pull any punches, as you can see from this bit of dialogue
below:

“Look, I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure we’re having a moment
here. And…” He paused and turned his palms up. “Please, correct me if I’m
wrong, but when you’re having a moment, those rules you mentioned are
suspended…momentarily. When you’re having a moment you gotta grab it by the
balls, or else something wonderful might pass you by.”

And Danny is so much more than a pretty face. He's got it all. He can
outwit and outshoot the bad guy, stop your heart with his charm, and whip up a
batch of waffles for his teenage daughter, all without losing his cool. As an
example, here's what Danny is thinking in a moment when he finds himself
unarmed in the middle of a robbery/hostage situation:

He had plenty of training in hostage negation, but most of what he
knew didn’t apply in this scenario. He had no backup surrounding the building
for leverage and nothing to offer in exchange for Nevaeh. He was going to have
to wing it.

Danny relaxed.

He was good at winging it.

ANGI: What sound or noise do you love?

CAREY: I love the sound of a mountain stream. A rushing
stream means I'm doing one of my favorite things- hiking! And it also means
there are wildflowers nearby. I'm a sucker for wildflowers, and I drag my
family to all kinds of remote places on "wildflower chases" every
season.

ANGI: Fairy Tale or Action Adventure?

CAREY: Both of course! That's why I write romantic
thrillers. I gotta have the fairy tale, but I crave adventure and a plot that
makes me think.

ANGI: Who’s your favorite villain?

CAREY: I'd have to say Dexter Morgan. Such a complex guy,
and he fights his demons hard. It's easy to confuse him with a hero.

ANGI: What is your biggest vice?

CAREY: Not very exciting, but I'd have to honestly answer
sleeping in. I love to laze in bed in the morning. That is literally the reason
I became a primary care doc instead of a surgeon. I loved the OR, but I
couldn't hack the 4am duty that goes with a surgical residency.

ANGI: How is it working with hot guys and sexy women all day?

CAREY: LOL. I work with munchkins all day- not hot guys
and sexy women. But I sure do love coming home to my fantasy characters at
night!

ANGI’S GOTTA ASK: Okay, one look at your website and the first thing
that pops up is that you developed the THE SEX REP. *I* know what the test is,
but tell us a little about it and if you’ve used it in your stories.

CAREY’S GOTTA ANSWER: Long-winded warning! Feel free to skip ahead to
the end. Before I went to med school, I went to grad school and earned a PhD in
clinical psychology. As part of my dissertation research I wanted to shed light
on the relationship between femininity and self-esteem.

I was bothered by the fact that at the time (okay, let's not go into
which decade for the sake of my vanity), research consistently showed an
inverse relationship between femininity and self-esteem. In other words
feminine women were reported to have astonishingly low self-esteem. The thing
that got under my skin about this situation was that it didn't jive with my
experience. And when I started looking into the tests that measured femininity,
I was floored to observe that femininity tests defined that quality by using
words like passive, fragile, shy, and so on.

Well, heck! No wonder! Women who described themselves as passive and
fragile and fearful had low self-esteem? Shocker.

But to me, that wasn't what femininity was about at all. I pictured a
lioness defending her cubs, a woman who could charm your socks off, and so on.
But I knew if I made up my own list of "feminine" traits, I would
simply be introducing my own bias and we wouldn't be any further along in
uncovering the truth. So I turned to the work of a psychologist named George
Kelly. Kelly developed a means of eliciting "personal constructs" or
unique ways of viewing the world. His test was called the Rep test (short for
role construct repertory test).

I used Kelly's rep test as my starting point and modified it to elicit
an individual's personal constructs of masculinity and femininity. I then ask
those individuals to rate themselves, using their own personal constructs, and
determined a masculine and feminine score. Next, my subjects took a self-esteem
inventory. And guess what?

Both masculinity AND femininity turned out to have a positive
relationship with self-esteem. I named the test, the Sex Rep, and my findings
were published in the Journal of Personality.

Have I used it in my stories? Yes, in the sense that I write about all
different kinds of women who are self-confident.

I'm currently working on the
second book in my Blood Secrets series. It's tentatively titled DUTY TO WARN
and features "Aunt Faith" from FIRST
DO NO EVIL. Learn more and read an excerpt.

PREVIOUSLY for CAREY

I'm
so excited about my May release

THREE
WEDDINGS AND A MURDER

This
is an anthology that features Tessa Dare, Leigh LaValle, Courtney Milan and
moi! And guess who wrote the murder? We're going to make this anthology
available for a limited time only- about three months- and we're donating all
the profits to the Avon Breast Cancer Walk. You can learn more and read an excerpt.

My
novella within TWAM is called SOLOMON'S
WISDOM

"What
would Castle do?"

Bad-boy-turned-pediatrician Charlie
"Drex" Drexler returns home to convince sweet Anna Kincaid he's
changed - but things aren't exactly as he remembers in Tangleheart, Texas.
Anna's got more kick than a line dance, Drex's dark past resurfaces, and his
best friend's baby boy disappears. Drex and Anna find themselves on
the run, dodging bullets and a villain in hornback alligator boots. Can this
makeshift crime-fighting duo solve the mystery and bring baby home safe before "Boots" strikes
again? And how will Drex win Anna back when nothing in his medical training
taught him how to mend a broken heart?

CAREY will be DRAWING from blog commenters today (make it easy and leave your email). She's giving away an electronic
copy of FIRST DO NO EVIL as well as a $25 gift card.

Note: Offer void where prohibited. GIFT CARD will be mailed to North America addresses only. International drawing for E-Book. Odds of winning vary due to the number of
entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a
timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the
author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be
responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not
automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter
publicly posts their email address.

DON’T
FORGET to FOLLOW us on Twitter #GetLostStories or LIKE us on Facebook to
keep up with all our guest authors and their prizes. Join me next Wednesday
when Vannetta Chapman returns for more of the Amish life. And come back
tomorrow when Donnell hosts Geri Krotow. And Friday when Teresa Roberson will
be Alexa’s guest. ~Angi

CAREY WANTS TO KNOW

Angi, Thanks so much for having me on Get Lost in a Story! I had a
blast! I especially loved the question you asked about remembering the first
book I read. It took me back to a very special time with my mother. So here's
what I'd like to ask everyone:

Do you have a special memory of reading, either with someone you love
or independently?

USA Today Bestseller Angi Morgan is an 11th generation Texan who plots ways to engage her readers with complex story lines, in actual Texas locations. She shares her research and photos on her daily blog: A Picture A Day.

33 comments:

I remember as a young child going to my great aunts home and they would let me choose one of the Little Golden Books from the bookshelf to read to them. That was big stuff back then! I hadn't thought of that in years. Thanks!PhoenixCarvelli(at)gmail(dot)com

Congrats on your first romantic thriller, Carey. I remember that our after school program would take us to the library once a week for the children's reading hour. Afterwards we would roam the shelves for books to check out.

Wow. Phoenix, Molly, and Jane! We are the night owls or early birds for sure! And this is taking me back even further- the Poky Little Puppy was a golden book I think, and Frog and Toad was on our family reading list too. I loved to take my children to the library story hours, and then the duck pond. My kids grew tired of ducks...but never books. Carey

Such memories. My mom tells me I was reading her the stories (in my head) as early as two. But the reading experience I remember (probably because I repeated it so often) was checking out 101 DALMATIONS (not Disney) by Dodie Smith from my school library. I had read it so many times that when I left for the summer, the librarian GAVE it to me. I wish I still had that original copy.

Angi, Thanks so much for having me today! Wow. You were reading your mom your own stories from the age of two? That's fantastic, and really shows what a born storyteller you are. I loved not only the text but the illustrations in the Dalmatians book.I can so visualize Cruella. What a great villain.

I wonder if anyone remembers their first romance novel. I think the first one I read was a REALLY old one (even at that time) that my cousin had somehow gotten and hidden away. It was called FOREVER AMBER and boy did that make an impression. I've often wondered how I would view it if I read it today. It was NOT politically correct by today's standards but it definitely engaged my attention. I can still feel the heroine's pain.

I have great memories of taking weekly trips to the library as a kid and devouring all the books I could. I read The Baby-Sitters Club, Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown, everything! I'm convinced that those weekly trips is what fostered my love of books that continue to this day. :) It helped me see reading as a hobby, something fun and enjoyable, not a chore I have to do that's good for me like eating vegetables!

P.S. No need to enter me in the giveaway, already have a copy of First Do No Evil, thanks to the lovely Ms. Baldwin! :D

What a great interview! Carey - you have done some major time in school, you must have a ton of letters after your name.

My favorite memory of reading is being allowed to go to the library on my own. The anticipation as I looked at all those books. Which ones would I read? How many could I check out and still be able to carry them all home... I loved to sit in a comfy chair in the library and lose myself in a book for an entire afternoon. That is how I became an avid reader.

Lisa, May and Katherine, thanks for your comments! And Lisa thanks for your support! Hope you are enjoying the book.

Nancy Drew is a big favorite of mine, but I don't think I've ever read Encyclopedia Brown. I will have to keep that in mind to recommend to young readers. Anne of Green Gables is such a wonderful book. I've reread it many times as an adult. And those library trips...I see I'm not the only one who used to max out her library card and walk home with her arms dragging the ground.

I remember reading 'Goodnight Moon' with my parents. For some reason the book scared me! I have no idea why. I read it to my son now and he enjoys it. Maybe it was the shadows in the pictures or something. The old lady in the rocker freaked me out, lol. What a memory to have :)

Leigh! Hugs for stopping by! LOL that you were scared of GoodNight Moon. How about Runaway Bunny...that is one of my favorite mom to child stories. I know we've gone a little far of the RSuspense topic here, but I do think these early reading experiences are what make for adult readers. So important! And Angi, I don't want to forget to say HOORAY! and Congratulations on your Daphne nomination for .38 Caliber Cover-UP!

Hi Carey! I always was a voracious reader so whenever my Mom drove me to the library as a kid I complained two days later that I had nothing to read. I think I made her mad with this! lol And because I coldn't ever have enough books I started reading my older brother's books he had to read for school (mostly classics). I didn't understand a lot, I have to admit, but at least I could read. :)Congrats on your first release (and your wedding)! What a year for you!

Thank you so much for the congrats, Claudia And bn100. I am super excited for the release of FRIST DO NO EVIL. But I have to admit with so much going on, e.g. my wedding, it hasn't really sunk in. I'm having a wonderful summer so far, and wish the same for all of you!

SuzThe first book I remember was Yertle The Turtle by Dr Suess. Boy, that was a long time ago. I remember the excitement when I went to the library and got my first library card and got to check out books. To me, a library is a magical place.

Hi, Carey. Welcome to Get Lost in a Story. I love so many things about your post today. E.G. First Do No Evil sounds like my kind of read. Your concept of self-esteem and femininity is well explained and terrific.

I can't remember the book per se, but I can tell you my favorite times were reading with my kids. I would read one page, and then say, your turn, and they would read to me. When I read I used expression, and soon my kids were immitating me -- putting expression in their sentences. Special times and reading got us there. Best wishes!

Thanks so much for your good wishes and also for sharing your wonderful memories with us. That is making me think back to not only expressive reading but teaching my kids the animal noises, the vroom vroom of a truck etc. I need to go real aloud with someone now! Anyone have a little one to loan me?

And speaking of "my kind of read" I've been dying to get to read The Past Came Hunting. It's at the tip top of my TBR pile!

Hi Carey, that is a great question. Believe it or not, my earliest memory of reading is on the couch in the evenings with my mother. She would read from the dictionary and teach me words. I know that sounds boring but my mother was such a busy woman and those stolen moments were so precious to me. Take care Carey!

Ha! That's a great idea! Just think of how our vocabularies would be expanded if we all read the dictionary with our parents! I hear you about stolen moments. It's amazing how grateful our children are for any attention we give them. I'm so glad you shared that. Thanks, Casey!

I love that we are including Grandmothers in our walk down memory lane today. Mine used to read me Bible Stories- one of those stories inspired the title for my novella in the Three Weddings and a Murder anthology- Solomon's Wisdom. My story in that anthology is a bit dark, but then so was that Bible story. I promise a happy ending, though.

Really is there anyone better than a librarian...except maybe Santa? Thanks Tammy!

Katherine! Good thing you came back and left your email because you are the winner! I'll email you tonight with more info and get your gift card and book to you! Congratulations! Thank you so much everyone for reading and commenting! Here's to lots more wonderful reading memories! Carey

What a fantastic interview, thank you Ladies, I enjoyed getting to know a bit more about Carey.

And I also love the Tramp! He is one handsome mutt and how chivalrous he is *sighs* ;-)I remember how our parents used to tell us bedtime stories when we were kids and usually they fell asleep before us :-D But I remember my dad reading to me and my sister and us (or rather me since I was the older and the one who could count) choosing the longest fairy tales so the storytelling would go on and on :-))

Thank you Carey and bravo to you for the Three Weddings and a Murder anthology, a great book for a worthy cause!